Patient threatened paramedics and said he would 'bite off' police officer's nose

Yahoo

19-05-2025

A NORTH Cumbrian man who was helped by paramedics in Workington became aggressive when they said he could not charge his phone in their ambulance.
Gary Walsh, 39, began behaving badly when the two female paramedics declared him medically fit after he reportedly fell at Workington's railway station. He also threatened two police officers, threatening to bite them.
He told one constable that he would 'bite off' his nose. The defendant, of South Street, Fletchertown, admitted four offences.
They were all common assaults, the victims being the two police officers, a paramedic and an emergency medical technician. At Carlisle Crown Court, prosecutor John Crawford outlined the offending.
He said it began at 9.10pm on September 4 last year.
The paramedic and an emergency medical technician were called to Workington's railway station to treat the defendant after it was reported that he had fallen down some stairs.
After assessing him, they discharged him as medically fit.
'The defendant then asked if he could charge his phone in the ambulance; and unsurprisingly, they said he could not," said Mr Crawford.
This prompted an angry outburst from Walsh, who threatened to 'smash their heads in' and smash up the ambulance. The defendant then stumbled out of the ambulance, swearing at the two women and punching the ambulance.
He then wanted to apologise but changed mind, telling the women: 'Hope when you drive your ambulance you crash and die.'
The ambulance crew left the scene but returned soon after a bystander reported that a man had been knocked down outside the railway station.
They found Walsh lying on the ground but he had not been hit by a vehicle. When two police officers arrived, the defendant lunged at them and made the threat to bite off the nose of one officer.
He was baring his teeth and moving towards an officer's hand. In victim statements, the two ambulance workers said they go to work to help people, not to be threatened. 'Both were upset by the incident,' said Mr Crawford.
Kim Whittlestone, defending, said the defendant was diagnosed with PTSD and emotionally unstable personality disorder and he had repeatedly appeared before the courts for similar conduct.
He had been doing well recently but relapsed after the psychiatrist whom he worked with and under whose care he was stable retired.
'Nobody yet has been reassigned to him,' said the barrister. She said drugs were the issue.
Walsh had periods of feeling he was in control but then something would happen in his life, and he would relapse.
Judge Michael Fanning observed that after an offending history spanning 25 years, there had been a three-and-a-half-year gap and then the offences that were presently before the court.
Though he left school without qualifications, Walsh had sent the judge a well-written letter, showing himself to be intelligent and reflecting the adversity he had encountered during his life.
'I am pretty sure you can be rehabilitated,' said the judge, referencing Walsh's recent offence free period.
He imposed a 21-month jail term, suspended for 18 months. This includes 15 rehabilitation activity days and a 'Building Choices' programme.
The court heard that Walsh's criminal record consists of 125 previous offences, which include multiple assaults on emergency workers.